Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius arrived at a court in South Africa today, charged with murdering his girlfriend at his home in Pretoria.

The gold-medal winner, known as the Blade Runner for his prosthetic legs, earlier left a police station with a coat over his head and arrived at the court amid a media frenzy, TV footage showed. His hearing before magistrates will take place at 9am, it was reported.

Pistorius, 26, was arrested yesterday over the killing of Reeva Steenkamp, 30, who had been shot in the head and upper body.

Initial reports suggested the model might have been mistaken for a burglar, but Brigadier Denise Beukes later said police were "very surprised" by that suggestion, adding: "These allegations did not come from us."

There had been previous incidents of a "domestic nature" at the property on the exclusive, gated Silver Lakes Golf Estate in the South African capital Pretoria, she added. A 9mm pistol was recovered and, according to unconfirmed reports, four shots were fired.

Police spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Katlego Mogale told the South African Press Association: "Paramedics declared the woman dead on the scene and police proceeded with their investigation. The woman sustained wounds to her head and the upper body."

Police said an application for bail by Pistorius' lawyer Kenny Oldwage would be opposed.

Dressed in a grey hooded jacket, tracksuit trousers and trainers, Pistorius, 26, walked with head bowed from Boschkop police station yesterday before being taken to Pretoria's Mamelodi Day Hospital in a police convoy. Ms Beukes said the medical examination was "standard procedure".

Pistorius' spokesman, from the Fast Track agency in London, said he was "assisting the police with their investigations" but no further comment could be made until matters became clearer.

Pistorius' father said his son was "sad" following the shooting. Henke Pistorius told SABC radio news: "I don't know the facts. If anyone makes a statement, it will have to be Oscar. He's sad at the moment."